Welfare Reform on the Web (December 2007): Pensions - overseas

This paper examines the claim that fully funded (FF) pension schemes better prepare society for the needs of an ageing population. It tests this claim, using quite advanced economic theory and modelling techniques and evidence from other studies, and concludes that criticism of the claim is partially, but not wholly, correct.

Behavioral effects of employer-sponsored retirement plans

S. Nyce

Journal of Pension Economics & Finance, Vol. 6, 2007, p. 251-285

Reports the findings of the Watson Wyatt Retirement Attitude Survey (WWRAT) about the way that defined benefit and defined contribution plans affect workers' commitment and productivity. It found that workers covered by a defined benefit plan express a very high commitment to their current employer, whereas DC plan coverage has no effect on employee commitment. It suggests that employers need to take into account effects on employee loyalty and productivity of changes from one type of scheme to the other, and discusses the implications for employers.

Pension reform in Europe: politics, policies and outcomes

C. Arza & M. Kohli (editors)

Routledge, 2008

This book provides a comparative analysis of the politics, policies and outcomes of current pension reform in Europe. The first part looks at the politics of pensions reform and the second looks at the processes and outcomes. It addresses the models of the new public-private pension mix, including the distributional and gender impacts, and looks at the evidence on age differences in attitudes to pensions.

Plan for a global pension

R. Blackburn

New Left Review, Issue 47, 2007, p.71-92

Examines the impact of an ageing world population and argues that a global pension fund would be the most effective and equitable solution. This article contains statistics and forecasts from around the world that policymakers and pension fund managers will find very useful.

The public-private pension mix in OECD countries.

M. Queisser, E. Whitehouse, and P. Whiteford

Industrial Relations Journal, Vol. 38, 2007, p. 542-568

Comparative study of aspects of the relationship between public and private pensions provision in European countries in the OECD (including the UK). Concludes that the overall effect of reforms has been to reduce public pensions promises.

France, Italy, Germany, Austria and Spain have all gone through several waves of pension reforms in both the 1990s and the 2000s. Contrary to expectations in the early 1990s, policy-makers have managed to scale back the levels of pension entitlement. The authors argue that this radical retrenchment in pensions has been politically possible for two reasons. First, long periods of phasing in mean that the impact of the reforms will be felt by the young, who form a small minority of current electorates and are less inclined to mobilise politically. Secondly, pension reform processes have proceeded in stages. Countries have started with moderate reforms, combined with encouragement to make private additional provision, and have adopted tougher reforms later in the process. The working age population has adapted to the new situation by turning massively to private alternatives to public pension provision.